The Vampyre's Best Friend
by Mentally Challenged Kool-Aid
Summary: The legendary Zoey Redbird has left the Oklahoma House of Night, but a new legacy has arrived. Sophia Luck, her illegitimate daughter, has been Marked. How will she get on as a vampyre? Is she as gifted as her mother, or just another fledgling?
1. Prologue

**The Vampyre's Best Friend**

_Prologue_

Remember that weird, tomboyish girl that always hung around the prettiest, most popular girl in school? Well, that girl was always me. Sophie, my best friend, has always been gorgeous, even when we were kids. Back then, parents and other adults called her "angelic." Nowadays, guys called her "sexy." Of course, when she got Marked, it didn't really hurt her and that rep any.

The day she'd been Marked, it'd been a Thursday. The upcoming Wednesday was the last day of freshman year, and Sophie had been getting some last things out of her locker before the janitors threw it all away. I'd been leaning against the locker next to hers; I vaguely recalled that it belonged to Owen MacGuire, the runningback for the football team. Mainly, I was focused on _getting the hell out of here. _SIHS had been a prison since I first walked on the place, and I always wanted to bolt the minute the final bell rang. But, unfortunately, Sophie wouldn't hurry up.

"Soph, will you _please _get a move on? I hate being in here. It's freezing." And it was. The principal was crazy about the temperature, and it never went aove 62 degrees.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," she'd murmured absently, shoving things into her bag. I remember that she'd been a little jittery, but Sophie was a good actress, so she brushed it off with a delicate hand easily.

She'd finally gotten everything after a while, and we walked down the deserted halls towards the front exit. Some teachers meandered around their rooms, throwing away posters and doing some last-minute packing up. I heard Sophie gasp, and whirled around to see an extremely tall and, if I may say so, extremely _hot _guy. He had dark brown hair, nearly black eyes, and creamy skin. What caught my eyes, however, was the dark sapphire crescent in the center of his forehead, and the silver knotwork framing his eyes. _He's a vampyre, _I realized with horror.

He spoke, and I felt my skin crawl at the power I'd heard in his voice. "Sophia Penelope Luck! In the name of the Great Goddess Nyx, you have been Tracked and Marked for the House of Night!"

Sophie's scream still haunts me to this day, and she immediately hit the floor. "Sophie? Sophie!" I instantly kneeled beside her, not worry about the Tracker or where he'd went, though I looked up at the click of classroom doors as teachers came out to investigate, and he was gone. "You'll be okay, Soph. We can do this. Together, we can do this."


	2. Chapter One

**The Vampyre's Best Friend**

_Chapter One_

After Sophie had been Marked, I'd gotten us a ride to her house. When her dad saw her new, not-filled-in crescent, he'd gone completely pale. He wouldn't say anything, and had just sat there with his mouth open. I'd made her pack up all her stuff and we walked a block over to my house, which had been (thankfully) empty. Mom was at a business conference in Miami, and my dad wasn't around. And Patricia...was never coming home again.

We'd been sitting in my room in silence, when Sophie finally burst out, "What am I gonna do?"

I blinked at her in surprise. "You're gonna go to the House of Night," I said, surprised she'd even needed to ask that.

"What?" Her eyes shone with fear, and she'd been very near hysterics. "How can I go there? They're bloodsucking monsters, Isadora. Think sbout it. They killed your sister, for God's sake!"

I stood up quickly, now angry. "They did _not _kill Patricia! She was too weak, so her body rejected the Change. They wouldn't kill a fledgling."

"Oh, really? You believe that crap about them 'rejecting the Change'? Do you _not _remember that crazy-evil Neferet bitch? She wanted all humans _dead! _All of us! She even killed off those fledglings to start a war against us! If that freakish all-power chick and her bumpkin friend hadn't been around, we might all be gone. Vampyres. Are. Evil. They killed Patricia, for the love of God! I'm not going!"

I had to resist the urge to get up and slap the girl I'd called my best friend for fifteen years. She was pushing all the right buttons to drive me crazy, but she was pushing them wrong. "Look. You keep forgetting that the 'freakish all-power chick and her bumpkin friend' were vampyres, too. And you know what really happened to Patricia? She liked to party. She'd sneak out of the House of Night to go party with humans. She hated those walls like I hate the walls of SIHS, and looked for any excuse to leave it. Well, she'd been leaving too much, and ignored the adult vamps' advice about staying on-campus for Thanksgiving. Mom, her, and I were hanging around the house when Patricia started to cough. Nasty, wet coughs. Then blood just started to pour from her. Her eyes, her nose, her mouth, her ears, and I held her until she died in our arms."

There was a long silence after I told my tale, and I was breathing heavily. Sophie didn't say anything for a long while, processing what I'd just said. She didn't look at me as she asked, "So...they really do reject the Change?"

I swallowed. "They do. And do you know what happens when a fledgling is away from adult vamps for too long?"

Sophie shook her head.

"They start to reject it anyway. I think Patricia wasn't strong enough to begin with, and her habit of sneaking out didn't help at all. So, in a way, she accidentally committed suicide."

She swallowed, and I watched her carefully as she grabbed and release my bedspread, over and over again. I knew she was nervous and scared; that much was obvious. I sat down on the bed next to her and hesitantly began to put my arm around her. My hand was barely on her shoulder when she flung herself into me and started to bawl. I wrapped my arms around her and made soothing noises, stroking her hair gently. "I'm sorry, Isa-Chan. I'll go to the House of Night. I'll go."


	3. Chapter Two

**The Vampyre's Best Friend**

_Chapter Two_

When Sophie finally calmed down, she went to sleep, even though it was only about 3:00 in the afternoon. Then I remembered how vampyres have reversed schedules to humans, and she was probably getting a head start on sleeping during the day. While she was sleeping, I unpacked, folded, and repacked all the clothes she'd just shoved into her big, pink duffel bag. I smiled when I saw Peeta, her sacred stuffed panda bear. All girls had security blankets, right? Sophie's was Peeta the Panda.

I tucked Peeta under her arms while she slept, and she squeezed him affectionately in her sleep. I smiled again, yawning. Today had been an unbearably long day. Leaving Sophie to her sleep, I went to the hall closet and pulled out a blanket and a pillow before making my way downstairs.

Once in the living room, I threw all of Mom's fancy throw pillows off the couch, smushed up my pillow, and cuddled up in the blanket. As I was falling asleep, I swore I heard a voice say, _Prepare yourself, u-we-tsi-a-gee-ya, for great pain is coming..._


	4. Chapter Three

**The Vampyre's Best Friend**

_Chapter Three_

I woke up at about 4:15 in the morning, finding piercing blue eyes staring at me from above. Screaming, I rolled off the couch and onto the floor, scrambling around, trying to hide and/or defend myself. "What the fuck?" I said, yanking my blanket around me as if it could protect me.

A melodic, wind-chime-like giggle followed my spaz-out, and a ligt flicked on to reveal a perfectly composed Sophie, wide-awake. She looked lots better; she'd just showered, so her white-blonde hair hung around her waist, wet as a dog. Her blue eyes laughed at me, and her childlike grin confirmed it. I chucked my pillow at her, getting up and wrapping my blanket around me more tightly. "Why're you so awake?" I asked groggily, rubbing my eyes.

She cocked her head at me, giving me a half-amused look before gesturing to her forehead. I saw her Mark and remembered yesterday; the Tracker, her dad's reaction, her coming here, Patricia's story, and the tears. I looked down. "Oh, yeah. I'm guessing you're ready?"

Sophie nodded at me, smiling. She looked a _lot _better than she had yesterday. I wondered what'd changed, besides a really nice sleep. Well, and her species. But, yeah, she seemed loads better.

I got up and made my way upstairs, rumaging through my drawers for a change of clothes. Closing the door, I put on a dark purple shirt and some jeans, sliding on ballet flats and brushing my dark hair to finish. I looked into my own almond-shaped eyes one last time before grabbing Sophie's duffel and going out my bedroom door.

"You ready?" I asked, tossing her the bag.

She caught it easily, like I'd thrown her something as small as a soda. "Yep. Oh, and I put some things of yours in here, too, by the way."

I wrinkled my brow in confusion. "You did? Why?"

"Because, silly" - she opened the door and smiled at me - "you're gonna stay with me at the House of Night."


	5. Chapter Four

**The Vampyre's Best Friend**

_Chapter Four_

I was still calling her crazy when we finally staggered into the House of Night, panting. We'd walked from my house to the House of Night; not really a far walk, but for two girls who weren't particularly used to walking, it seemed farther than it really was. "I can't believe you expect them to let me stay. Why would they? I'm human. Plus, what would I do there? How would I go to school? Your idea is - "

"Crazy, I know," Sophie interrupted. "But I _refuse _to go into this place alone. I mean, really. Yes, I'll go because I need to, but I'm going by _my _rules."

I watched her as she strode confidently over to the gate; security had improved a lot since the whole Kalona issue about 20 years ago. Yes, the students still had pretty loose leashes, but they'd been trying to protect the students better.

She was about to press the button - like the kind they have in old apartment complexes where you press it and they person in the room hears what you say - when the gate swung open eerily. We shared a look as it creaked before walking in cautiously. We'd barely gotten through the gate when it shut firmly behind us on its own. We turned in time to see it click closed, shared another look, and faced forward once more. In front of us, an extremely pretty woman was smiling at us in a way that looked a little sarcastic, a little welcoming, and very pretty.

"Sophia. Welcome to the House of Night."

She grabbed my hand and smiled tightly at the brown-haired woman. The sapphire crescent on her forehead was, of course, filled in, with vine tattoos framing her eyes. The light green of them contrasted against her creamy, pale skin, and it was the same color as her eyes. "Hello. And call me Sophie, please."

The woman nodded, her eyes never leaving Sophie. "My name is Cordalia, and I'm the High Priestess at this House of Night. So, you were telling me that you'd like to change your name to 'Sophie'?"

Sophie furrowed her brow. "Change my name? What do you mean?"

"When fledglings move into a House of Night, we give them the opportunity to legally change their names. You asked me to call you 'Sophie' instead of 'Sophia,' so I assumed that's what you'd like your new name to be," Cordalia explained.

"Ohh. Well...hum. I dunno. Sure, Sophie. Just Sophie; I don't want a middle or last name."

Cordalia smiled at her. "Very well. Welcome to the House of Night, Sophie."


	6. Chapter Five

**The Vampyre's Best Friend**

_Chapter Five_

At that point, Cordalia seemed to finally realize I was standing there. She looked at me and her eyes flashed, but I couldn't figure out why. So I just ignored it, and met her steady gaze. "Human. Are you aware that this is a House of Night?"

I felt my face contort in anger. "Yeah, actually, I am. Just ask Patricia Ling; oh, yeah, you can't. Because she _died _from rejecting the Change," I snapped at the priestess.

Her eyes narrowed. "You are Patricia Ling's sister?"

"No shit. I'm Isadora."

"Isa-Chan," Sophie said, squeezing my hand. It was obviously a warning, and I looked over at her, clenching my teeth. She looked right back at me, her blue eyes boring into me. Besides Patricia, Sophie had been the only one to call me Isa-Chan; I wouldn't even let Mom call me that after Patricia died. Behind the calm, controlled facade, I could see that she was scared. I could see why; High Priestesses were powerful, and she didn't want me to get hurt for pissing off one. I took a deeo breath, nodded at her, and turned back to Cordalia, who looked like she'd gladly like to smother me with a pillow.

"I'm sorry. Yes, I'm Patricia's sister, and I'm also Sophie's best friend."

She nodded, seeming to accept my apology. She turned to Sophie. "May I ask why you've brought - Isadora here?" The pause indicated she'd obviously almost said "a human."

"Because I'm scared, Cordalia," she answered honestly. "I need a friend here. Someone to bear with me through this. I'm petrified, and I have to have Isadora here."

The priestess nodded sympathetically. "I understand, Sophie. But Isadora - as well as all other humans - are a part of an old chapter of your life, and it's time to turn the page. You'll make new friends here, and I'm sure you'll love being welcomed as a child of Nyx."

Sohpie met Cordalia's gaze steadily. "No disrespect, ma'am, but if I go, so does Isadora."

"A human has never been allowed to live with any fledgling at a House of Night before," she said briskly. "Why should I make an exception for one fledgling?"

Sophie threw her hair back and smiled in an "I-know-something-you-don't" kind of way. "Well, wouldn't you think the daughter of Zoey Redbird should get just one small favor?"


End file.
